Photo: Feverpitched (Getty)
There are tons of standup comedians out there talking about their life and their relationships on stage. Just check out one of the many standup specials Netflix has. Or just see a local comic in person. You’ll quickly see that most comedians are an open book. But one comedian may have said too much about her past relationship because now she’s getting sued.
Louise Beamont, whose stage name is Louise Reay, is being sued by her ex-husband Thomas Reay for allegedly defaming him during one of her shows. According to Beamont, her ex wants to also sue her for breach of privacy and data protection and wants £30,000 in damages ($41,963). And now because of this Beamont has set up a GoFundMe in hopes that her fans can help her pay for her defense.
Here’s just some of what Beamont says on her GoFundMe page:
“I referred to my husband a couple of times – perhaps 2 minutes’ worth of reference in a 50-minute show. The main gist of those references was to tell the audience how sad I was that my marriage had broken down recently.
As standup comedians, I believe it’s the very definition of our job to talk about our lives and social issues. So this has become a free speech issue – and free speech means everything to me.”
As I write this, Beamont has reeled in £6,000 ($8,889) of the £10,000 ($13,987) she needs to pay for her legal defense. Reay’s legal team insists that it’s not about free speech, but instead said this:
“Beamont repeatedly performed a comedy show which identified our client verbally and in still and moving images, contained private information about him and his relationship with Ms Beamont, and made very serious and inflammatory allegations of wrongdoing against him. These allegations included the entirely false suggestion that our client’s relationship with Ms Beamont was an abusive one.”
Without knowing exactly what Beamont said, it is tough taking a side here, but unless she revealed his social security number or credit card information then I think Reay may be a little salty he’s the butt of jokes at Beamont’s shows. Perhaps he needs to laugh at himself a tad more.
What do you think? Should comedians be punished for roasting their exes? Or should comedians continue to push the boundaries?
h/t Daily Mail
